A Researcher's Perspective on Current Events

Current Affairs

June 01, 2010

The economy: getting better or getting (staying) worse? According to today's Harris Poll, Americans have mixed opinions...and the people of New York City are no different. Dan and Whitney are back and are out on the streets, asking people their opinions about jobs and the economy and, more importantly, if their outlook for the future is better or worse.

May 26, 2010

Post by Justin Greeves, Senior Vice-President, Public Affairs and Policy Research

Those of us who are on Facebook and other social networking sites know that many of our friends have “friended” their favorite cause or non-profit and have asked us to be friends as well. Many of us chalk this up to a fun activity that allows us to learn a bit more about our friends, their likes and dislikes, and to hear about interesting new causes. However, some non-profits are taking great advantage of this growing population and are starting to count the money, the friends, and their growing online influence. While still, other non-profits remain on the sidelines, unsure if this new reality will have any actual use or payoff.

Our recent DonorPulse study reveals the growing power of social media for non-profits, advocacy organizations and others. The numbers are staggering and show how many organizations are leveraging this new national pastime into real support toward their missions. Our survey shows that just less than half (48%) of adult Americans engaged in philanthropy have done something passively to support a non-profit through social media. This includes “friending”, encouraging others to act, showing support generally, and posting stories about their favored non-profits. This adds up to about 76 million Americans and that is quite a base of potential new donors, advocates, volunteers!

However, we all know that being a friend isn’t just about passive activity. A small but growing proportion of active social networkers represent the leading edge and true power of this pastime. The results from DonorPulse reveal that, of those who already use social networks as a way to keep up with their non-profit friends on social media, an amazing 85% have taken meaningful action as a result of what they have seen or read about those non-profits in social media. This includes making a financial contribution, recommending to friends and family, volunteering, attending events and other such directly supportive behaviors. This leading edge group represents about 10 million adult Americans, many of whom are highly engaged in giving, networking, influencing, and recommending other things to their friends.

Social media outlets of all types represent a new bounty for non-profits and those that support them. The costs for social media are incrementally lower than for other media forms and the returns appear tantalizing for those that have the right people inside the organization to properly leverage this growing media form. One day soon, organizations that used to measure their influence in dollars spent may start telling us instead how many friends they have on Facebook.

May 11, 2010

Here we are on the 50th anniversary of FDA approval of the birth control pill, and according to a Harris Poll released last week, our attitudes about the pill – generally speaking – remain positive:

Almost 9 in 10 Americans say the availability of the pill has been good for society – and 56% say it has been very good. Even 80% of Republicans say (though somewhat more tepidly) that access to the pill is good (either somewhat or very good).

Approximately 9 in 10 Americans believe the pill is effective at preventing pregnancy – and 59% say it is very effective. Regardless of gender and age.

However, access to the pill does not appear to have fully abated our apprehension about pregnancy (the unplanned kind). Sixteen years ago, 90% of Americans said that unplanned pregnancies were a problem in the United States – and 60% said a “really big problem.” Today these numbers have dropped significantly to 71% and 32% respectively but unfortunately are still too high.

The going belief remains that a decline in moral standards (which were apparently declining 16 years ago and are still declining today) and a lack of education are the main causes of unplanned pregnancies. Birth control (or lack thereof) does not appear to the major roadblock to eliminating unplanned pregnancies (at least that’s the perception). Though before we feel totally at ease with the state of birth control in the U.S., 68-81% of Americans still say that lack of access, understanding, or money to obtain and/or use birth control is at least somewhat of a factor in the rate of unplanned pregnancies.

So, what’s the public policy directive then – more money to schools, to sex education, to improving our moral standards? What should your local politician do?

May 06, 2010

...And here we go! Round 2 of the Harris Poll Wrap-Up video, this time asking about people's favorite bands and musicians. Getting the opportunity to co-host a video like this (err...solicit people on the streets of New York City) definitely brought out some interesting moments. Being in the numbers biz, I thought I'd provide you with a few fun facts about the results and making of this video...

The Numbers Don't Lie

1 - Ranking for Celine Dion as America's favorite musician

0 - Number of people on the streets of NYC who said Celine was their fave

29 - Number of times Dan and I hadn't heard of a particular group or artist

29 - Number of times our camerawoman had to tell us who the group or artist was

32 - Degrees Fahrenheit outside the first day we filmed

72 - Degrees Fahrenheit outside the second day we filmed (wearing the same coats and scarves for consistency)

2 - Number of Harris employees who've gotten mad at me for not knowing who "Cream" is

5 - Number of times I've meant to Wikipedia "Cream," but haven't

So who's your favorite band or musician? See if your faves are mentioned in our video, below!

May 05, 2010

Ah, the overwhelming teenage dilemma …Is it better to be popular or smart? Popular or successful? Popular or powerful? Popular or really anything else?

It turns out Barack Obama is both. He is our well-liked and influential leader … He’s the captain of the football team and the president of Student Council. According to a recent France 24/Harris Poll among adults in the United States, Italy, France, Spain, Great Britain and Germany, most of us have a very/somewhat good opinion of Barack Obama… and:

Like him nearly as much as we did when he was first elected and way more than basically every other well-known world leader (except maybe the Dalai Lama) – including all 5 leaders of the EU5, and many in South America, Asia and the Middle East; and,

Believe he has a great deal/some influence at an international level, more than most other well-known world leaders.

Note that we here in the United States have a less rosy (and getting progressively unrosier) opinion of Obama than those abroad, but most of us still like him somewhat.

Too bad these warm fuzzy feelings haven’t translated into optimism about his job performance here at home or the economy or health care reform (see every other Over the Wirepost from last week). Turns out, we can like someone very much and perhaps even want him to sit at our lunch table or take him to the school prom, but not want him in charge of our allowance or our personal life.

April 29, 2010

So we learned earlier this week from a recent Harris Poll that the public’s top concern(s) right now and the areas in desperate need of attention from our government are: health care (despite “reform”), the (lack of) jobs, and the (still failing, contrary to what today's Wall Street Journal article says) economy. So let’s focus today on doors #2 and #3.

Editorializing some (but not much in my humble opinion), it seems like Obama’s approval rating will forever be married to the economy and jobs. We were in a painful state of disrepair when Obama took office and will likely be obsessing until we get some relief...Not to mention, we Americans now prefer our groceries organic, our toys wired, and our faces wrinkle-free, and stating what’s obvious, all of these things take money.